Reporter's 'Mea Culpa' On Tour

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

Updated on: December 13, 1999 / 5:18 AM
/ CBS

David Brock, the reporter who has apologized to President Clinton for his 1993 article about Paula Jones, expanded on his regrets in an interview Tuesday with Jane Robelot, co-anchor of CBS This Morning.

"This isn't about me or Bill Clinton," said Brock. "It's about the culture we're in now. My view is when the Monica Lewinsky scandal is over, whether President Clinton stays in office or not, a lot of people will wake up and realize the process we have been through has been crazy, demeaning. It has debased the culture."

Brock, a former reporter for American Spectator, who first wrote about Jones' alleged encounter with then-Governor Clinton, rendered his apology to the president in an open letter published in the April edition of Esquire magazine, saying he questioned the credibility of the sources he used for the article.

As reported Monday by CBS White House correspondent Bill Plante, Brock says Mr. Clinton's right-wing enemies were behind the story. Brock was originally tipped off that Arkansas troopers had a story to tell about the sexual exploits of their governor by a political ally of Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich. He says the troopers turned on Mr. Clinton because they covered up for him, and he didn't reward them after he got to Washington.

On This Morning, Brock told Robelot: "I'm basically saying I can't stand behind this [story] anymore, and there are a couple of reasons for that. The main one is [that] the troopers made statements ... after I wrote my article, which seriously brought into question their credibility in my mind."

In his apology, Brock wrote to Mr. Clinton: "I wasn't hot for this story in the interest of good government or serious journalism. I wanted to pop you right between the eyes."

Brock's initial article gave a lurid account of the Clintons' behavior when Bill Clinton was Arkansas governor. The story was based largely on interviews with state troopers and has become known as "Troopergate."

It refers to a woman known only as "Paula," with whom Clinton allegedly had an untoward meeting in a hotel room. Paula Jones later came forward and identified herself publicly and filed a sexual harassment suit against Clinton.

White House counsel Jim Kennedy called the apology "an interesting correction of the record."